Hubble may end collision near by satellites Thursday, February 19, 2009

Hubble may end collision near by satellites
Thursday, February 19, 2009

The collision between a satellite and a Russian satellite Iridium may have implications for another spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope. After the two probes last Tuesday with high speed display retracted, there is a growing cloud of debris that formed today already about six hundred tracking equipment debris exists. Because with a speed of nearly thirty thousand miles per hour in an orbit around the earth turning, the debris could seriously damage the spacecraft. Similarly, the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which a few astronauts to the Hubble in May should make for a final repair mission.

When the space telescope this year to an inspection is subject, the only two years of operation. With the large amount of debris that is currently in the vicinity of our planet is daring space organization NASA astronauts its probably no risk to run. During the repair mission should be five times on to the batteries of the telescope to be replaced, new scientific tools to install and Hubble's radiation shield to replace some spacewalks. The telescope was launched nearly nineteen years ago and last maintenance mission was again in 1993.

The risk that astronauts would be at risk during the repair mission was already close to the safety limit that space organization NASA maintains. Hundreds of debris were ejected into space two years ago when China opblies a satellite with a ballistic missile. The risk of a catastrophic impact on a shuttle in orbit of the Hubble is a 185, which is below the limit of a two hundred. Mark Matney of the Johnson Space Center in Houston told the scientific journal Nature that the servicing mission for the satellite collision would have been very risky. Within two weeks deciding whether or not space telescope is left to his fate.

Source: astroversum

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